Vehicle signaling system.



G. E. BOYDEN.

VEHICLE SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. 191.4.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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VEHICLE SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I7, 1914.

Patented Jan.11,1 916.

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VEHlCLE SIGNALING SYSTEM.

' APPLICATION FILED JULY 17,1914.

Patented 12111.11, 1916.

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A TTOR/VEYS G. E. BOYDEN.

VEHICLE SIGNALlNG SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17, 1914.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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ATTORNEYS G. E. BOYDEN.

VEHICLE SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED'IULY I7. I9 I4.

Patented J an. 11, 1916.

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VEHICLE SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. 1914 Patented Jan. 11, 1916. I 6 SHEETS SHEET6.

WITNESSES Ame/ms an screams a GEORGE E; BOYDEN, OFNEW YORK, it. Y.,ASSIGNOR r0 ALEXANDER r. BROVVNE,

TRUSTEE, oF-BosroN, MASSACHUSETTS.

VEHICLE SIGNALING fsYs'rEM.

mes es.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BOYDEN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New -York, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vehicle SignalingSystems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to signaling appara- 'tus for vehicles, and itsobject isto provide means for announcing to the driver of a vehicle suchas an automobile, the directions for following a predetermined route.

An illustrative embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobileprovided with my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of myimprove-.

ment with the casing removed. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectiontaken on the line 3-3-of Fig. .2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly insection, of the phonographcontrol apparatus, the section being taken onthe line 44 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a plan view of my improvement withthecasing in position, certain parts being broken away to show the lock forsecuring the casing to its base. Fig. 6 is a section taken on theirregular line 6-6 of Fig. 5, certain parts being shown in elevation andcertain other parts being omitted for the sake of clearness;

on the line 77 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a transi more fully disclosing myinvention, 20 represents an automobile having my signaling apparatus 21securedthereto in the position v in which I prefer to place it, namely,on the dash-board in proximity to the steering post 23, so that themegaphone 22 will be directly in front of the driver, although it willbe understood of course that both the signaling apparatus anditsmegaphone may be located in any other suitable position,

Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken. I

" ered rollers 50. Meshing with said worm Specification of LettersPatent. Paftgnfi ed Jan, 11,1916,

Application filed July 17, 1914. Serial No. 851,451. i i

the megaphone, for example, being placed beside instead of infront ofthe driver.

Suitably mounted on a. base 24 are a phonograph 25 of any suitable typeand a device .26 for controlling the same, so. that the talking machineat the proper times will announce the directions whereby the driver willbe enabled to follow a predetermined route. Inasmuch as the mechanism ofthe particular talkmg machine shown in the drawings is well understood,I deem it un-' j by means of the flexible tube 31, and when themegaphone is placed beside the driver this tube may be convenientlydisposed along the side of the motor car. a

In the particular control apparatus shown in the drawings, reels. 42, 43are mounted on standards 40, 41, said reels being provided with handles45, 46, whereby the web 44 may be adjusted in position as hereinaftermore fully described. Located approximately-midway between the reels isa pair of standards '47 in which is journaledr the horizontal transverseshaft 48, which carries the worm gear .49 and the rubber-covgear is aworm' 51carried by the vertical shaft 52 mounted in the standard 53 andcarrying at its lower end the bevel gear 54 meshing with the bevel gear55 carried by the'longitudinal horizontal shaft 56 which.

is mounted in the standards 57, 57. The shaft 56 is rotated by thevertical shaft 58 and the bevel' gears 59, 60 secured to the shafts 58and 56 respectively, the lower end of the shaft 58 extending through thebase.

24 and being connected to the flexible shaft manner by means of a systemof gearing associated with the 'spur gear 62 meshing with a earconnected to the car wheel, so that a efinit relation exists between the61, which is rotated in the well known I speed of the'car and therotational speed of said flexible shaft- .As will be obvious, the

ometer shaft and may pass through the I speedometer and be coupled tothe vertical of the vehicle.

shaft 58.

Cooperating with the rollers is a pair of rollers 70, also preferablyrubber-covered, which are rigidly secured to the shaft 71 mounted in thejournal blocks 72 arranged for vertical movement in the boxes 73 withwhich the upper ends of the standards 47 lower rollers, so that by theactuation of the latter the web 44 will be drawn ofl" the reel 43 at arate proportional to the speed The web is wound on the reel 42 actuatedby the slip-belt 77 of the usual construction, which passes around thepulleys 78, 79, secured to said shaft 71 and reel 42, respectively. p

In order to release the pressure exerted on the web by the rollers forthe purpose of manually adjusting the web with respect to thecontact-makers 90, the upper rollers may be raised against the tension"of the springs 74 by means of the lever 80 which is pivoted at 81 tothe yoke 82,the ends of which overhang the top of the standards 47 andinclose the'ends of the shaft 71, the cam surface 83 of said levercooperating with the crossbar 76 in a manner that will be obvious.Preferably the upper end 84 of the lever projects through an aperture inthe casing which incloses the apparatus.

One or more contact-makers 90, herein shown as two in number, preferablypro-' vlded at their outer ends with metallic v wheels 91 are secured toand insulated from the standard 47 and are arranged to cooperso that itis in electrical connection with said platen, and the other terminal isconnected to the 'metallic cross-bar which carries the contact inakers.The web is provided with one or more series'of perforations 93, arrangedin line with the contact-makers, so that whenever one of the latterpasses through a perforation it will close the circuit of the batteryand energize the solenoid thereby actuating the bell-crank 94 normallyretracted by the spring 95 and so releasing the phonograph brake 96.'For. manual operation of the brake-releasing device, the push-rod 97,the lower end of which is connected with. the solenoid plunger and theupper end of which projects above the easing, may be employed.Preferably the casing 98, which is secured to ihe'base in any suitablemanner, for example by the'locking ofi' manually, a perforation,preferably elon gated as shown, being made and then certain directionsspoken into the receiver of the phonograph. For example, if it isdesired to make a record to guide the driver from Chevy Chase to theTreasury Department, the record among other things would contain thedirections U street turn to the left and knowing the distance betweenChevy Chase and the corner of 18th and U, for example, aperforationwould be made in-the web a distance from its end corresponding to thedistance that would he traveled from Chevy Chase to the corner inquestion and the desired direction spoken into the machine. From acylinderprepared in this manner a matrix would be made for theproduction of permanent records. the web could be perforated and therecord prepared on the road, the operator stopping his machine atappropriate points,v making the perforations and dictating thedirections to the'phonograph.

Preferably at least two sets of perforations are employed as shown toprevent undue weakening of the web. The perforations preferably shouldbe numbered cons'ecutively and the user will be provided with a listgiving the numbers of the perforations and the corresponding recordeddirections, so that at any given point on the road the phonographtransmitter may be adjusted manually by means of the push-button 29, tocorrespond with the particular perforation which bears the number shownby the 97, the record beginning with said perforation will be producedfor the purpose of testing the accuracy of adjustment of the transmitterto the web. It will be obvious that by means of said push-buttons 29 and97 and the handles 45, 46, it will-be a very simple matter to positionthe transmitter 30 with respect to the record cylinder to correspondwith the proper perforation.

'Having thus described one illustrative em bodiment of my invention,without however limiting myself thereto, what I claim as 1. A vehiclesignaling system comprising in combination a phonograph provided with arecord adapted for the reproduction of directions relating to apredetermined route new and desire to secure by Letters Patent to befollowed by said vehicle, operating mechanism for said phonograph, andmeans driven by said vehicle relatively thereto at a rate proportionateto the speed thereof in combination a phonograph provided with arecordadapted for the reproduction of directions relating to apredetermined route to be followed by said vehicle, means nor,- mallyrestraining said phonograph from operation, electromagnetic means forreleasing the restraining means and means driven by said vehiclerelatively thereto at a rate proportionate to the speed thereof for.controlling said electromagnet device whereby the proper directions arereproduced by said record at definite predetermined points along theroute traveled by the vehicle.

3. A vehicle signaling system comprising in combination a phonographprovided with a record adapted for the reproduction of directionsrelating to a predetermined route to be followed by said vehicle, aperforated web, means for driving said web at a rate proportionate tothe speed of the vehicle I and means coiiperating with said perforatedweb for controlling the operation of sald phonograph whereby the properdirectlons are reproduced by said record at definite predeterminedpoints along the route traveled by the vehicle.-

LA vehicle signaling system comprising in combination a phonogr phprovided with a transmitter and a record adapted for the reproduction ofdirections relating to a predetermined route to be followed by saidvehicle, operative mechanism for said phonograph, means driven by said"ehicle relatively thereto at a rate proportionate to the speed thereoffor intermittently controlling the operating mechanism of saidphonograph whereby theproper directions are reproduced by said record atdefinlte predetermined points along the route traveled by the vehicle,manually operated means for controlling the operation of said phonographat will and manually operatedmeans for adjusting the position I of thephonograph transmitter with respect to its record.

5. The combination with a vehicle, of a phonograph, control meanstherefor, means connected with a moving part of said vehicle for drivingsaid control means at a rate proportionate to the speed of said vehicle, restraining means for sa1dphono graph,- and means governed bysaid control means for releasing said restraining means at predeterminedintervals.

6. The combination with a vehicle, of a phonograph, control meanstherefor, means connected wlth a moving part of said vehicle for drivingsaid control means at a rate proportionate to the speed of said vehicle,

restraining means for. said phonograph,

means actuated by said controlmeans for releaslng said restraining meansatpredetermmed, lntervals, and manually-operated means for releasingsaid restraining means web, a'pair of rollers frictionally engaging saidweb, means for rotating one of said rollers at a rate proportionate tothe speed of the vehicle, and. means cooperating with said perforatedweb for controlling the operation of said phonograph whereby the properdirections are reproduced by said record at definite predeterminedpoints along the route traveled by the vehicle.

8. A vehicle signaling system comprising in combination a phonographprovided with a record "adapted for the reproduction of directionsrelating to a predetermined route to be followed by said vehicle, aperforated web, a pair of rollers frictionally engaging said web,meansfor rotating one of said rollers at a rate proportionate to thespeed of the vehicle, means for disengaging one of said rollers fromsaid web, and means cooperating with said perforated web for con-.

proportionate to the speed of the vehicle, a

platen supporting said web,.a contact-maker resting on said web in linewith the'perforations thereofv and arranged to. make elec trical contactwith s'aid'platen through said perforations, electromagnetic meansserially connected with said contact-maker and said platen, restrainingmeans for said phonograph and -'mechanical connections between saidelectromagnetic means and said restraining means.

10. A vehicle signaling system comprising in combination a phonographprovided with a transmitter and a record adapted-for the reproduction ofdirections relating to a predetermined route to be followed by saidvehicle, and control means for said phonograph, acasing inclosing saidphonograph and control means, means-for driving said control meansrelatively to said vehicle and at a rate proportionate to the speedthereof whereby the proper directions are reproduced by said record atdefinite predetermined points along the route traveled by the vehicle,manually-operated means projecting through said casing for controllingthe operation of said phonograph at Will, and other manually-operatedmeans projecting 5 through said casing for adjusting the position of thephonograph transmitter. with respect to its record.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th dayof July,

GEO. E. BOYDEN. Witnesses: v i

MORTIMER KATZ,

WILLIAM B. VVRIGHTINGTON.

